By; Goodluck E.Adubazi, Abuja.

The Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) has called for stronger coordination among power sector stakeholders to improve hydropower generation, strengthen grid stability and ensure more reliable electricity supply across Nigeria.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NISO, speaking at the opening of the 2026 Hydro Generation Planning Meeting at the Jebba Hydro Power Station in Niger State, said effective utilisation of the country’s hydropower resources was critical to achieving a secure, reliable and economically operated electricity grid.

The five-day meeting, which began on August 17, brings together representatives of the Federal Ministry of Power, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), NISO, hydropower generating companies, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), distribution companies, water-resource and dam-management authorities, development partners and industry experts.

The NISO chief executive said the meeting would enable stakeholders to assess the performance, availability, operational constraints, maintenance requirements and water-resource outlook of the nation’s hydropower fleet, while developing an integrated generation plan for the national grid.

He described hydropower as a strategic component of Nigeria’s electricity supply industry, noting that beyond energy generation, hydro stations provide important system-support functions, including frequency regulation, reserve provision, voltage support and system restoration.

According to him, frequency regulation has become a measurable and enforceable operational obligation, rather than merely a theoretical attribute contained in planning documents.

He disclosed that NISO had intensified compliance enforcement on Free Governor Control across the generation fleet through field inspections, conditional derogations with fixed expiry dates and a penalty framework tied to Monthly Penalizable Capacity in line with NERC directives.
“Every hydro unit in your various plants has a governor-response profile that NISO can see.

That visibility should inform how we plan together, not just how we enforce afterward,” he said.

He stressed that hydro generation planning should go beyond determining the megawatts available at a particular period, saying it must be integrated into national power-system planning and grid-security management.

He identified reservoir levels and inflows, seasonal hydrological conditions, water releases, dam-management requirements, generating-unit availability, planned and forced outages, turbine and generator constraints, transmission capacity and demand patterns as key factors affecting hydro generation.

The NISO boss also emphasised the need for coordinated planning among generation companies, transmission operators, distribution companies, water-resource authorities, regulators and other market participants.

He said the quality and timeliness of hydrological forecasts, generation availability declarations, maintenance schedules, reservoir information, transmission outage data and real-time communication would directly determine the quality of generation scheduling and the security of the national grid.

The NISO chief executive said the future of generation planning must increasingly be driven by data, forecasting and digital technology.

He said the organisation’s ongoing modern control centre and operational intelligence systems programme was designed to enhance operational visibility and improve the use of Energy Management Systems, SCADA, Internet of Things (IoT), state estimation and contingency analysis across the generation fleet.
For hydropower, he said the systems would support better integration of hydrological data, reservoir levels, inflow forecasts, unit availability, generation capability, demand forecasts, transmission constraints and real-time grid conditions.

The objective, he said, was to move the industry from planning based largely on historical patterns to predictive, scenario-based and risk-informed generation planning.

The NISO boss further called for sustained investment in the rehabilitation, refurbishment and modernisation of ageing hydropower infrastructure.

He noted that the actual contribution of a hydro station to the national grid depended not merely on its installed capacity but on its available capacity and operational readiness.

He therefore urged generating companies to properly coordinate planned maintenance with system requirements and reduce forced outages through preventive and predictive maintenance.

He added that where compliance gaps occurred, NISO would prefer structured and time-bound processes to restore operators to full compliance rather than relying solely on punitive measures.

According to him, rehabilitation and upgrading of ageing hydro facilities should be treated as investments in national generation adequacy and grid reliability rather than merely as individual station projects.

The NISO chief executive said Nigeria’s evolving electricity mix, including increased renewable and distributed generation, would require greater flexibility from the system operator.

He noted that hydropower could provide the flexibility needed to respond rapidly to changes in generation and demand as variable renewable energy sources increase.

He stressed that hydro stations that are technically capable and compliant with governor-performance requirements would become increasingly valuable to the national generation portfolio.

He therefore called for the preservation, rehabilitation and optimisation of existing hydropower assets, alongside the development of viable new hydro resources.

The system operator urged participants to ensure that the meeting produced practical decisions rather than another set of recommendations that would remain unimplemented.

He said the meeting should produce a clear and implementable framework covering projected hydro generation, water-resource availability, maintenance and outage schedules, unit availability and constraints, governor-response compliance, coordination of hydro with thermal and renewable generation, reserve requirements and transmission constraints.

He also called for specific responsibilities and timelines for implementation.

“I do not want this to be another meeting whose outcomes quietly lapse,” he said, stressing that action items must be captured in a tracked register with clearly assigned owners and timelines and reviewed periodically until implementation.

He said the success of the meeting should ultimately be measured by improved generation availability, enhanced grid security and increased electricity supply to Nigerians.

The NISO chief executive urged stakeholders to use the meeting to openly examine historical performance, identify constraints affecting hydro generation and develop practical solutions that would strengthen coordination across the electricity value chain.

He reaffirmed NISO’s commitment to working with all stakeholders to ensure that Nigeria’s hydropower resources are effectively integrated into the national generation mix and optimally utilised to support economic development.

He expressed optimism that the meeting would provide a stronger foundation for a more reliable, resilient, flexible and efficient Nigerian electricity system.